CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION AND ITS BACKGROUND

Background of the Study

Organizational and personal productivity are achieved through effective time management

strategies such as planning time, meeting deadlines, time control and avoiding postponement of tasks

(Pelin Kanten, 2015). However, people like to have many excuses to say “later” in their lives, such as

when doing household chores, personal necessities, paying bills, going to school, making appointments,

or completing of tasks. Filipinos are well-known for having good characteristics but one of their negative

mores is what their so-called “Mañana Habit” or “Procrastination”. To delay doing something until a later

time has become their habit. They always tend to say “Bukas na lang” (I will do it tomorrow) until it was

postponed to the next day until the next week. This action is commonly seen among students.

School is the field of honor of the students. It is also the place where in they will strive harder to

survive the challenges laid by the curriculum and also by the teachers. Basically, school is home for

growth where they will learn knowledge or skill that they may use in the requirements that they need to

pass. Every student needs to accomplish multiple requirements to fulfill their responsibilities as a student

and to receive high grades.

The pressure to accomplish numerous tasks to the students at once is a common issue to them.

They murmur and dispute about the activities and requirements they need to accomplish when the time is

about to end. Although, being in senior high school is really suffocating to Filipinos for it is very new to

them, they should not blame the curriculum itself but to restlessness they bring within themselves.

Nowadays, the usual students prefer to delay task and spend much their time in the things that is

irrelevant and unimportant. They would rather choose enjoy their social life rather than stressing

themselves with those numerous tasks. Even though procrastinators can complete their task before

deadline and are satisfied with their outcomes, they may not engage in an academic task simply for the

sake of that task.

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They already forgot the importance of time management and miss to set their main goals in life. This act

of delaying is what their so-called procrastination. It involves delaying the performance of academic

tasks.

Moreover, procrastination is considered as a common behavior specially to Filipinos as they call

it as the “Mañana Habit”. This is a serious problem that didn’t notice of many. The knowledge of people

is stuck on what they had been practiced that postponing tasks that have a deadline date is just normal not

even knowing that it can lead to some serious factors in their life specially to their health, it can lead to

chronic procrastination.

Although procrastination had been a rampant to the society that everyone is aware of, it can also

affect individual’s daily routine in negative way. Mussarat Jabeen Khan (2014) believed that academic

procrastination can lead to the failure of achievement of academic goals on destined time which results in

the development of psychological distress in individuals. Procrastination is the proneness to delay

completion of important requirements to the point of being alarmed. Thus, the researchers aimed to study

the possible cause of academic procrastination, its consequences and how to prevent it to happen.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to identify the cause, consequences and ways on how to prevent academic

procrastination among the Senior High School students of STI College Vigan.

Specifically, it sought answers the following:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Grade Level

d. Track

2. What are the reasons why students procrastinate?

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 3. What are the effects of procrastination on the academic performance of the students?

4. How do students reduce academic procrastination?

Significance of the Study

Senior High School students were the primary beneficiaries for they may be able to realize the negative

result of this behavior and eventually stop procrastinating.

Limitations and Delimitation of the Study

The study focused on enumerating and elaborating the Effects of Academic Procrastination of the Senior

High School students.

Conceptual Framework

Definition of Term

Time Management

Academic Procrastination

Procrastination- to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done

Operational- is described as the act of deferring an operation or task until a later time, resulting in

insufficient time to complete the job.

Procrastination- main topic.

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 CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 PROCRASTINATION

It is the tendency to postpone tasks that have a deadline date (Cid, 2015). Procrastination is also

initially defined as a series of delay or postpone one task because of the involvement of another task

perceived as more important or satisfying which results in the imperfect behavioral product; which further

leads emotional upset. It has also been described as a self-regulatory style that delays the start or

completion of a task or as the avoidance of the implementation of an intention (Owens et al., 2008).

Procrastination appears a tendency, attitude or behavioral trait which Shah (2000) described as

indecisive state lacking in will power and vitality to do a work. Students become unable to do the right

work at the right time leaving it for some other time; that may result in failure plunging them (Milgram

1991) in a state of emotional disturbance. It may have an effect on students’ personality traits and their

learning. Steel (2008) pointed out that procrastination effects the self-efficacy & self-actualization,

distractibility, impulsiveness, self-control and organizational behavior of the students. It makes students

lazy & passive developing delaying tendency in them; either they feel hesitation in taking initiatives or

fear to start a work or an assignments.

2.2 ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION

Academic procrastination is a prevalent problem, that leads to a variety of issues, such as reduced

productivity, worse performance, worse career prospects, increased negative emotions, and worse mental

and physical health.

It occurs when issues such as anxiety and perfectionism outweigh people’s self-control and

motivation; common causes of it include fear of failure, task aversion, exhaustion, and lack of clear

directions.

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 Academic procrastination can be reduced by analyzing the situation, in terms of factors such as

the number of students involved and the causes of their procrastination, and then implementing an

appropriate

solution, which consists of interventions such as intermediate deadlines, automated reminders, and self-

regulation training.

2.3. TWO (2) TYPES OF PROCRASTINATION

Behavioral Procrastination

It is a swlf-sabotage strategy that allow people to shift blame and avoid action, for example: a

student may do poorly in an exam and use procrastination as an excuse. Procrastinators suffer from low

esteem and self-doubt and worry about how other people judge their abilities. Prolonged procrastination

and failure to perform adequately creates a cycle of self-defeating behavior, which results in a downward

spiral of self-esteem. Self-inflicted degradation and shame of this kind often translates into stress and

mental health problems at some point.

Decisional Procrastination

The decisional procrastination strategy is to put off making a decision when dealing with

conflicts and choices. People who practice high level decisional procrastination tend to be afraid of errors

and are likely to be perfectionists. These procrastinators seek out more and more information about

alternatives before attempting to make a decision, if they make one at all.

2.3 REASONS WHY STUDENTS PROCRASTINATE

Forgetting about it

For whatever reason missing class, being distracted when the teacher announced the homework,

not writing it down, or forgetting to look at the class website sometimes students leave their work until

the last minute because they genuinely have no idea that there’s any work to be done. (That is, until a

friend mentions it the day beforehand or until they walk into class the next morning.) Technically

speaking, this wouldn’t be classified as “procrastination” because the student is not resisting their work

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they simply don’t realize they have any work! But this is definitely a common cause of leaving things

until the last minute.

Lack of clarity about the desired outcome

When students are confused by an assignment, or don’t know exactly what is expected of them,

they often put off the assignment in hopes that they will understand it better later. This is especially

problematic for students who are uncomfortable with uncertainty or unknown situations. Unfortunately,

when they look at it the night before the deadline, they usually have no more information than they did

before and no time left to ask their teacher for clarification. Optimistic time estimates. Optimism is a

wonderful quality in most situations. But when it comes to estimating how much time it will take to

complete an assignment, optimistic time estimates can create big problems. Students commonly

overestimate the amount of time they have left to complete assignments, and underestimate the amount of

time it will take to complete them. Consequently, they fail to leave themselves enough time to complete

the work.

Staying up late working on overdue assignment Overly-lenient deadlines

When teachers don’t enforce deadlines and allow students to turn in late work without a penalty,

students learn that deadlines aren’t meaningful and cease to take them seriously. Without meaningful

consequences, external deadlines can start to feel as arbitrary as internal deadlines, which while helpful

are not as effective at discouraging procrastination.

Not knowing where to start. When students think of papers or projects as a whole, rather than as a

series of steps, they can seem overwhelming and they don’t know where to begin. So, they end up putting

the whole project off, until it’s so close to the deadline that their worry about not knowing the “right”

place to start is overshadowed by their fear of not having enough time to complete the work at all.

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 Poor study routines. Students’ after-school routines tend to be fairly habitual. Once they are

established, these behavior patterns are followed automatically, with very little conscious thought. For

example, students sometimes will start watching TV as a break after school, which automatically leads to

procrastination because it’s hard to turn it off. Or, students will have a pattern of leaving their most

difficult work, their studying, or their long-term projects until the end of their homework time, when they

have the

least energy and the smallest amount of willpower. These habits can cause students to procrastinate

automatically, without even thinking about it.

Distractions

Sometimes students set aside time with the intention of completing their work, but end up

distracted with other things. These distractions can be external (Face book, text messages, etc.) or internal

(their own thoughts & impulses). Either way, this results in them spending time that had been budgeted

for their work in other ways.

Overwhelm. When an assignment seems very complex or time-consuming, even thinking about it

can seem scary and stressful. So, students often fall into the trap of putting it off. Unfortunately, this

ultimately backfires when they eventually do start the project because now the inherent difficulty of the

project is compounded by the fact that they have insufficient time to complete it. So, they end up with far

more stress than they would have had if they had started earlier.

Perfectionism / Fear of Failure

Students preoccupied with making their projects “perfect”, nervous about making mistakes or

“messing them up”, or afraid of criticism, are often so concerned about doing assignments incorrectly that

they will put them off to avoid the anxiety they feel when they are trying to work on the project. This can

lead to the seemingly irrational behavior of avoiding the project even more as the deadline approaches

(because they become less and less likely to be able to do a good job on it) until, at last, they are so close

to the deadline that producing an ideal assignment is no longer possible, and their only options are to do

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an imperfect job or turn in nothing at all. Difficulty regulating emotions. Recent studies have suggested

that procrastination is less of problem with time management than we had once believed, and more of a

difficulty with emotional regulation. Students who feel bored, tired, frustrated or nervous when they work

on assignments will often pursue a strategy of trying to make themselves feel better in the short-term by

downplaying the assignment (“it’s no big deal; it won’t affect my grade much anyway”) and distracting

themselves with fun, rewarding activities in order to improve their mood.

Too many commitments

If a student has so many scheduled activities and so little free time that their life feels like an

endless string of obligations and chores, with little or no time off, they may use procrastination as a

method to artificially create “free time” for themselves. Unfortunately, this type of “free time” is usually

not very satisfying because it’s also accompanied with a sense of guilt for avoiding the things they

“should” be working on.

Resistance

Students will sometimes procrastinate as a form of rebellion when they view work as something

that is being “forced” on them by an unreasonable teacher or authoritarian parents. Procrastination

becomes

their way of resisting this authority. When students think of assignments as something they “have to” do,

schoolwork becomes a chore rather than a choice and they are more tempted to procrastinate on it.

Procrastination can then become their way of resisting the message that they are “supposed to” complete

their work by showing teachers and parents “you can’t make me do it”.

2.4 CONSEQUENCES OF ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION

Procrastination can have a negative effect on students’ schoolwork, grades, and even their overall

health. Students who procrastinate experience higher levels of frustration, guilt, stress, and anxiety—in

some cases leading to serious issues like low self-esteem and depression.

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 The effects of procrastination can have an even bigger impact on high school students. Once

students reach high school and start receiving more take-home assignments and larger projects, students

who procrastinate until the last minute tend to receive lower grades than their peers.

This can create a cycle of bad grades and low self-confidence that can be difficult for students to

overcome. At a time when marks start to impact the post-secondary opportunities for students, this can

lead to a lot of extra stress and frustration.

2.5 APPROACHES FOR HANDLING ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION

Student-led approach

This involves students taking most of the responsibility for reducing their academic

procrastination, with little to no external guidance. External guidance in this case might include

something as minimal as a lecturer mentioning the problem of procrastination and giving students a link

to a relevant guide on the topic.

Externally led approach

This involves stakeholders, such as educators or administrators, using relevant anti-

procrastination techniques to reduce students’ procrastination, without directly discussing the issue of

procrastination with the students. For example, this can involve an instructor setting a series of

intermediate deadlines for all students in their course.

Joint approach

This involves using both external guidance and having students take an active role in their

attempts to stop procrastinating. For example, this can involve going over relevant anti-procrastination

techniques with students, and helping them choose and implement their preferred ones.

2.6 AVOIDING ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION

Give clear directions

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 For example, consider a situation where students are assigned a paper to write. In this case, the

instructor can provide clear directions and expectations by explaining what style of paper students should

write, and what criteria will be used to grade it. From the students’ perspective, they can set clear goals

for themself by doing things such as decide where, when, and how long they plan to work on the paper.

Set intermediate milestones and deadlines

For example, consider a situation where students are assigned a research project. Instead of

having a single deadline at the end of the semester, at which point the students have to turn in the entire

project, it can be beneficial to set intermediate deadlines throughout the semester, such as a point by

which they have to decide on their topic, a point by which they have to create a project outline, and so on.

Incentivize and reward progress

For example, from the instructor’s perspective, this can involve saying encouraging things to a

student who previously procrastinated, but who now managed to submit multiple assignments on time.

Similarly, from the students’ perspective, this can involve gamifying the studying process, for example by

marking down streaks of days on which they successfully managed to achieve their study goals.

Find ways to make studying more interesting and fun

For example, an instructor can pick humorous examples to use in their homework assignments.

Similarly, a student can decide to go somewhere pleasant to study, such as the library, and listen to

energizing music while doing so.

Give permission to make mistakes

For example, an instructor can emphasize to students that it’s okay to make some mistakes,

especially on initial attempts and early drafts. Similarly, students can emphasize the same to themselves.

Identify and resolve fear and anxieties

Figure out what students are afraid of, and resolve those fears. For example, if students are

anxious because the feedback they receive on assignments is too harsh, an instructor can give feedback

that is less unpleasant, while a student can try to find ways to avoid taking this feedback personally.

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Promote self-compassion

Self-compassion can help reduce procrastination, as well as various issues that are associated

with it, such as stress. It consists of three components: self-kindness, which involves being nice to

oneself, common humanity, which involves recognizing that everyone experiences challenges,

and mindfulness, which involves accepting one’s emotions in a non-judgmental manner.

Promote self-efficacy. 

Self-efficacy is the belief in your ability to carry out the actions that you need in order to achieve

your goals, and it can help reduce procrastination. To develop self-efficacy, students can try to identify

the various strategies that they can use to successfully study and complete their assignments, and think

about their ability to execute those strategies successfully; instructors can promote self-efficacy by

helping students do this.

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References

https://solvingprocrastination.com/academic-procrastination/.

https://www.oxfordlearning.com/why-do-kids-procrastinate/#:~:text=Once%20students%20reach

%20high%20school,difficult%20for%20students%20to%20overcome.

Adekunle (2004) consequence of procrastination on the academic achievement of the students in higher

institutions unpublished paper university of Ibadan.

George (2005) Doing the Things We Do: A Grounded Theory of Academic Procrastination. Journal of

Educational Psychology, 99(1), 12-25.

Kims (2015)What are the Major Disadvantages of Procrastination? Retrieved from

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Are-The-Major-isadvantages-ofProcrastination?&id=1087177.

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